Fish face

Mesa Verde

DAY 1

We arrived in Mesa Verde at about 2:30 p.m. It was a beautiful drive, and we ended up driving through rain, hail, and snow! Corbin had a bit of a rough time in the car. He was very antsy. We finally stopped at Payless Shoes to let him crawl around the carpeted floors. Clark's parents' truck was having some difficulties, but after changing their air and fuel filters it was running like a champ. They, along with Clark's sister and her family, made it into Mesa Verde around 6 p.m. While we were waiting for them to get there (we were staying in their trailer), we drove up to the visitors center and then we went to dinner.

DAY 2

We went to church (I ended up staying out in the car with Corbin because he was fast asleep), and then we went back to the Mesa Verde visitors center. After that we went to 4 corners, which I thought was fun, even though there wasn't much to do there.

DAY 3

We spent 11 hours today at Mesa Verde. I was amazed at how well Corbin and his cousin Kaycee handled it! They were great little hikers. We went to 4 different ruins. I was really surprised at how far they were spaced from each other . The first two were about a 40 minute drive away from the second two. That would be a really long walk. I guess I just assumed that they would all be right next to each other. The day started out pretty cold. I was really glad that I had brought both a jacket and a blanket for Corbin. However, as the day wore on, it warmed to a perfect hiking temperature. Oh, and that night when we got home, Clark was holding Corbin and the little dude decided to poop out of his diaper and all over Clark. It was so funny (although I'm sure I wouldn't have been laughing had it happened to me!)

This looks like a hut that my brothers and I built back in Riverton.

Here Clark is going down into a kiva (underground dwelling), this was the only one in the park that people were allowed to climb into.

All tired out

DAY 4

Welcome home! Corbin was great on the way home! He slept for about 3 of the 8 hour trip (7 driving and 1 eating/let Corbin crawl around). Corbin was so happy to be home. He was crawling as fast as he could around the family room and kitchen. It was so cute.

These boots were made for walkin'

Our video camera decided to fix itself! For the last month or so, whenever I would turn it on, it would say that there was an error and ask if I wanted to repair it. It didn't matter if I said yes or no, the video camera would try to delete everything on the disc. Well, today I decided to give it another shot, and when I said to repair the error, it actually repaired it! I am so glad that we have a video camera once again! And I am so glad that I didn't lose any of the videos we have on the camera. I have already downloaded all of them onto the computer, so I won't worry anymore about the possibility of losing them. Anyways. Here is a fun video of Corbin walking with his push toy. I think this is probably the farthest he has walked with it. He has quite the death grip (I like to think he gets it from me). If I pick Corbin up after he finishes walking, then he holds tight to the handle and lifts the toy up with him.

Arg

The other person who teaches sunbeams with me didn't come to church today. And she didn't get a sub. And she had the lesson. Luckily I only had 5 kids today, and they were pretty good. I had to go over to the other sunbeam class to find out what the lesson was even about (it was "I am thankful for my hands"). We went on a walk, sang songs, traced hands and drew on the chalkboard. Thank goodness it was an easy lesson topic. Sundays are tiring.

help

Clark and I have a couple of road trips planned this summer. I need some book tape ideas. We have already listened to, or read all the Harry Potter books, so we (okay, so it's mainly me) are looking for some new books to listen to in the car. Any and all ideas would be appreciated!

Biking

We took Corbin out for his first bike ride today (and it was me and Clark's first bike ride in Colorado). It was so much fun, although Clark and I both got a nice sunburn...good thing we at least remembered to slather Corbin up with sunblock before we left. We were only going to go out for a little while, but we were on such a pretty trail, that we ended up biking for about an hour. Not too shabby considering I haven't really worked out for about a year and a half (pathetic, I know).
I though these tree stumps were pretty cool. They were huge! I wanted to take out Corbin for a picture, but he was nearly asleep, so we just left him in the trailer.
Also, yesterday I went garage saling, and I was really disappointed because I went to a neighborhood sale, and they didn't have anything. As I was on my way home, I saw a sign for a garage sale, and I thought, "What the heck, I might as well check it out." It was awesome. They had tons and tons of brand new fabric that they were selling for 25 cents a piece. I got everything in the following 2 pictures for only $5.75. I love garage sales. They are the best.

Rise and shine

This is what Corbin looked like when he woke up this morning.
He had pulled one arm completely out of his pjs. Funny kid.

The results

Good news! The doctor says that the swelling in Corbin's kidney has gone down! He said that it could possibly come back, but the fact that it has decreased on its own is very encouraging. Corbin still has the urinary reflux to deal with, but that is not as big of a deal as the kidney swelling. So, for now we are back to just watching and waiting. Corbin will stay on his medicine, and he will have another test done (not the same one as what he just had, although it will still require a catheter) around November to check and see if the reflux is still occurring.

Corbin is growing into such a big boy. Look what he has learned to do.

It's not the best quality picture, but here is Corbin in his cute little hospital gown (thanks Marci for telling me how to upload it). Notice how completely out of it Corbin looks, it makes me just want to cuddle him!

New car!

Clark and I got a new car! We traded in the Trailblazer for an '07 Jeep Compass. We have been thinking about getting a new car for a while now, and we finally found one that we liked. We ended up getting a great deal, especially considering that the Trailblazer needed about $1,000 worth of repairs.

Here are a few things I love about the Compass:

* fuel economy (this was one of the reasons we decided to buy a new car. The Trailblazer was a huge gas guzzler)
* the driver's seat can be raised and lowered, a very nice feature for the vertically challenged
* it has a regular electric outlet in it. Now we can bring along the laptop and watch movies on the road.
*it is surprisingly roomy
*the warranty
*cheaper insurance

sleeping beauty

Corbin had his renal scan and another ultrasound this morning. We got to the hospital at about 7:15, and we didn't leave until 11. Corbin was a real trooper, and even though he hadn't eaten anything since 1 a.m., he didn't really start to fuss until about 8:00. We weren't allowed to stay in the room with him, so we didn't get to see him get put to sleep or anything. I was kind of disappointed about that, but Clark said that he was glad that he didn't have to see Corbin sedated. While they ran all the tests, Clark and I were able to go and eat in the cafeteria. Clark got some french toast that was amazing! It reminded me of all you can eat french toast at Magleby's Fresh in Provo. We even thought about catching a quick movie, since we basically had a free babysitter (kidding!) Anyways. Corbin was so cute and cuddly when we went to see him in the recovery room. He looked adorable in his tiny hospital gown! I took a quick picture of him with my phone, but I'm not sure if I can get the picture onto my computer. We go and see the urologist on Monday morning, and he will explain all the results to us then.

In other news, on Sunday night, we were able to attend a fireside done by Bronco Mendenhall. I was really surprised at how much he made everyone laugh. You would never know, from all the bland tv interviews that he does, that he has such a funny sense of humor.

I choo choo choose you

Today was a free admission day at the Colorado Railroad Museum, so we decided to check it out. They had some really cool model train sets, and a bunch of old railroad cars. I guess they have trains that you can ride, but they don't run those on the free days. But we were okay with that. We had a lot of fun just wandering around. I think we will definitely have to bring Corbin back next year. Oh, and click on the images, if you would like to see them larger.

I LOVE this picture. Corbin was so excited when he figured out that he could move the levers back and forth.

Doesn't this one remind you of the boxcar children?